Author Topic: November 2015 in the Southern Hemisphere (Read 11131 times)

melager · « **Reply #30 on:** November 11, 2015, 08:03:13 AM »

stunning Marcus, thanks so much for showing us

Mel

Jupiter · « **Reply #31 on:** November 11, 2015, 08:06:47 AM »

Marcus I love Tulipa sprengeri! That's one I think I could grow in my rock garden.

Got home from work before the kids today so took a few quick photos.

1. Linum grndiflorum 'Bright Eyes'
2. Tanacetum ptarmiciflorum
3. Centaurea gymnocarpa
4. Kniphofia somethingorother.

David Lyttle · « **Reply #32 on:** November 11, 2015, 09:59:01 AM »

Here are two plants that you are unlikely to find in the average garden; Freycinetia banksii (Pandanaceae). I once made the mistake of trying to take a shortcut through a thicket of this on the West Coast - I thought I was going to die in there. The second is Melicytus flexuosus (Violaceae) which must be one of the strangest plants in the New Zealand flora - a mass of tangled interlacing branches and no leaves.

Both plants are flowering and both are male both species being dioecious. The Freycinetia flowers are thought to pollinated by bats so you would require both a male and a female plant + bats to produce seed.

johnralphcarpenter · « **Reply #33 on:** November 11, 2015, 11:41:23 AM »

Fascinating!

Hillview croconut · « **Reply #34 on:** November 11, 2015, 09:39:22 PM »

Hi David,

Interesting that Freycintia banksii combines the names of two well known historical figures, well at least here on the East Coast of Australia. Louis Freycinet and his brother explored the southern and eastern coast of Tasmania and later his brother was instrumental in getting the Baudin expedition to the hitherto unexplored areas of southern Australia. And Banks, he needs no introduction.

I looked up Freycinetia and found that Australia has more species than NZ, I think you only have the one, but Tasmania has none. This is surprising indeed given our similar topography and climate. I thought our Richeas might be related through the same family, given that they look very similar and that there is one species called R. pandanifolia, but they belong to the Ericacea family. Nevertheless a good example of convergent evolution.

Cheers, Marcus

David Lyttle · « **Reply #35 on:** November 11, 2015, 10:29:53 PM »

Hi Marcus,

Some people consider the NZ flora to be a depauperate version of the Australian flora and it certainly is the case for those species with warm climate/ subtropical affinities. Freycinetia would fit here as it is largely confined to the North Island and West Coast of the South Island. It is a liane and forms huge tumbling masses in the forest

The Richeas are related to the Dracophyllums and doubtfully distinct at the generic level. Some of our large Dracophyllums resemble Richea pandanifolia notably Dracophyllum traversii, Dracophyllum fiordense.

fermi de Sousa · « **Reply #36 on:** November 12, 2015, 06:03:22 AM »

In flower this morning:
Ixia rouxii whose size is in keeping with the rock garden,
cheers
fermi

t00lie · « **Reply #37 on:** November 12, 2015, 08:36:54 AM »

Iris 'Pacific Coast Hybrids currently flowering for the first time.Sown 3 years ago from that years SPCNI seed exchange.....In a number of cases I couldn't be bothered separating the individual seedlings so planted them out as tight clumps.

t00lie · « **Reply #38 on:** November 12, 2015, 08:44:45 AM »

Another Iris however this is an 'oldie '....

The historic Iris 'Zua' 1914.Lovely petals that almost give the impression they are made out of crepe paper.

Robert · « **Reply #39 on:** November 12, 2015, 04:17:57 PM »

Quote from: t00lie on November 12, 2015, 08:36:54 AM

Iris 'Pacific Coast Hybrids currently flowering for the first time.Sown 3 years ago from that years SPCNI seed exchange.....In a number of cases I couldn't be bothered separating the individual seedlings so planted them out as tight clumps.

What a very beautiful selection of PCI. Very impressive from a pack of seeds! I especially like the Picotee.

Hillview croconut · « **Reply #40 on:** November 12, 2015, 09:40:49 PM »

Hi David,

There appears to be some deep ancestoral connections between Tasmania, New Zealand and Chile but I guess being Islands both our respective homes have a high degree of endemism. Tasmania has two species of dracophyllum, and both are extremely different in habit. D. minimum is a big cushion plant while D. milliganii is the typical form and can reach up to 1.5 metres in wet rainforest. At that height it is easily confused with Richea pandanifolia. Oh, just to confuse matters more, one of the nine species of richeas found in Tasmania is called R. dracophyllum!

Cheers, Marcus

Anthony Darby · « **Reply #41 on:** November 13, 2015, 06:36:23 AM »

I wonder if the Moa had a hand, er, beak in Melicytus flexuosus evolution?

Hillview croconut · « **Reply #42 on:** November 13, 2015, 11:06:07 AM »

Hi Anthony, package on the way.

How would the Moa be an evolutionary agent? Distributor of seed? Eliminator of competitive species? I am intrigued.

Cheers, Marcus